Well the weather was kind of crappy, the wind was strong from the north and the fishing was off. Normally one would think that's a recipe for a bad day... however no one told the kids that!

We met Daisy and Suzanne from Big Brother Big Sister of Greater Boston at our usual meeting place and the bigs and littles started showing up one by one. Thanks to Sean McDermott who kept us on track, the rendezvous went without a hitch. As the kids went on their Monomoy tour many of the mentors started over to get a little "scouting" in before the kids came over. Jim Simms, Craig, and others. Sean and Jimmy scoured the area on Sean's su-weet new ride.

http://flyfishingforum.com/chronicles/BBD_05/group.jpg

We knew it was going to be a good day when the boat came back for the rest of us after the first load and one of the little brothers was on the bow with his face into the wind, grinning from ear to ear. He had gone over with the last load but loved the boat ride so much he didn't want to get off! Capt. Keith let him make the turnaround with us. I'm sure he won't forget that ride for a long time.

Then when we got to the beach, the kids enjoyed a fantastic lunch from Chatham Village Cafe and started to enjoy themselves. In fact, when we decided to call them together to start the 'flyfishing bootcamp' it was almost as if the kids had forgotten they were going to fish.

http://flyfishingforum.com/chronicles/BBD_05/station2.jpg

It's tough not to overload kids on their first exposure to flyfishing, but we did our best. We used the time-tested props - jai-alai and a wiffle ball, the infamous feather boa, and weaned them onto a floating line setup. Our goal was to expose them to fly casting and I think we did a good job of it. Then we grouped up and went fishing.

Catching was off...
The north wind, infusion of colder water, lady luck and all that nothwithstanding the fishing was off. For example the Reel-time guys were doing their get-together as well, and while we ran boot camp we were getting concerned that so many seasoned anglers were fishing up and down the drop-off and no fish were being caught. Only a couple were caught by our scouts and it got us a little nervous about the 'catching'.

Fishing was great!
You know I don't think the kids cared about the catching all that much. I can say with complete confidence that we all had a great time even though only two stripers were caught. The kids had a great day at the beach, digging large holes in the sand, eating cookies, playing frisbee, catch, and just enjoying themselves with the kind of abandon that brings out the kid in all of us.

http://flyfishingforum.com/chronicles/BBD_05/gradclass.jpg

Awards ceremony - a special part of the day.
The two fish total worked out very because mentor Jeff Borkowski had donated two fishing outfits as prizes and the two winners walked away with everything they needed to become fishing nuts like us.
Everyone went home with something - a Nick Svencer Flybox with Adrian's "Patriot" fly, some other terminal gear donated by Tom Dunlap, a smiley pin from Top Rod Flyshop up the road on 28, and of course a large bag of Swedish Fish candy for each participant.

By the time we all settled in for a cold one and a bite to eat on a waterfront deck we all agreed it was a special day - as special as any of our annual BBD's despite all of the challenges we faced.

http://flyfishingforum.com/chronicles/BBD_05/chill.jpg

The mayor of Chatham elect stopped in to provide a welcomed dose of 'vivid local colour'. we all agreed - it was one for the books, a real winner of a day. A day that I would have liked to describe to my own dad on Father's Day.

I believe it's exactly this kind of event that defines the unique character of the Flyfishing Forum. As a group we owe our thanks to Sean McDermott, Adrian, Jeff Borkowski (Seuss) and Cara, Quentin, JimS, CSJ60, Porkslice, TomD, Alan Erdossy and son, my daughter Nikki and her boyfreind Nat, and Hawkeye on Sunday :) (I'm sure I must be leaving someone out so I apologize in advance)

To Admiral Ed, Captain Keith of the Rip Ryder we can't thank you enough for your generosity each year for this special event.

Mike Brady of the Monomoy Wildlife Refuge brings a special perspective of the refuge to the group each year when they take the tour. Mike, you da man.

Chatham Village Cafe for the excellent sandwiches, chips, drinks and cookies! Stop in they are under new mgmt but haven't changed a thing (inside joke).

A lot goes into making this work... but it somehow worked like clockwork thanks to the hard work of Daisy, Suzanne and Heather of BB/BS, kudos in pulling this off so smoothly!

But the REAL HEROES are..... the Big Brothers who do this all year for the kids. Your generosity is inspiring, I hope to see you next year!

Nick

06-20-2005, 05:42 AM

Juro,
Sounds like another sweet day. Great write up. Real sorry I missed it, hopefully next year I'll be able to attend once again. It really is such a great event!

Nick

Smcdermott

06-20-2005, 08:06 AM

Awesome day indeed. Great to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones. All the kids seemed to have a great time which is what counts. Certainly a great turnout from the Forum membership. A special thanks to Juro who continues to drive this event. Maybe next year some of us can take a little of that weight off your shoulders.

Sean

seuss

06-20-2005, 09:41 AM

Event worked out well as it always does. The BBs and LBs are always so appreciative and have such a good time, despite the less-than-friendly weather conditions in each of my 3 years. One of these years, the weather gods will shine down on us, and there will be big fish for all.

Thanks Daisy, Suzanne, Keith, Chatham Village, all the Forum volunteers, and especially all the BB/LB pairs...oh...and don't forget Molly (front/center and seated in Juro's group pic)!